


The Goro He Knows

by HanaHimus



Category: Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Genre: Character death is pre-fic, Gen, Goro but not really, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 08:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15360450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaHimus/pseuds/HanaHimus
Summary: Ren Amamiya was fully ready to accept that Goro Akechi was dead.





	The Goro He Knows

**Author's Note:**

> I finished some Devil Summoner stuff recently. I've been thinking abt how it's in the Personaverse too a lot...
> 
> If facts are off, I'm sorry. I still haven't touched the Raidou games yet, pffft

Ren Amamiya was fully ready to accept that Goro Akechi was dead. Everything had ended so abruptly, he hadn't felt there was any satisfying closure, but… All he could do was try and move on. He couldn't better settle things with a dead man, after all. 

Being back in Tokyo helped him move on, in a way. The crushing weight Goro had left was gone, floating away like the feather of a crow. Maybe, with Goro buried deep in his mind, he could bury the Phantom Thieves business, too. He still had his friends, sure, but the rest…

The rest didn't matter anymore. The Metaverse was gone and the Phantom Thieves disbanded… He needed to move on, the Phantom Thieves couldn't support his future. Hell, it couldn't support his present!

So it was time for him to really live an honest life. 

That's what he was thinking until everything went to Hell in a handbasket. At first, Ren thought he was dreaming when creatures that looked like Shadows started popping up in the city. This couldn't be anything but a nightmare, Shadows didn't pop up outside the Metaverse!

But soon enough he realized they weren't Shadows at all. It took him longer than that to put a name to them, but he did figure it out. Demons. Actual damn demons running around Tokyo and all he had was some plastic weapons. That and Morgana, but a cat wasn't much help. 

“This is bad…!” Morgana’s claws dug into Ren's shoulder as demons once again surrounded them. “I don't think we can run this time! And Leblanc was so close, too…!”

“Then we're just gonna have to try and fight our way out!” He grasped his fake dagger and braced himself. He'd been through so much, demons weren't gonna be the end of him! If he could just summon his Persona right now--

Before he could even finish the thought, someone or something just… wiped out the threat. He couldn't see what at first, but then the dust settled and he was met with a familiar face. The face of a dead man (though the dead man seemed to be wearing his hair a little differently).

“Wait, you're…”

“Hm?” He looked at Ren, just now noticing him. “Oh, I'm Goro Akechi. Kuzunoha is investigating what's going on here, so you should go get some place safe.”

And then he turned on his heel, ready to walk away. Without even thinking about it, Ren reached for his arm. “Wait a second! Don't you know who I am?”

“Hands off.” He jerked his arm free from Ren's grasp. “And no, I don't. Why, should I?”

_ Yes.  _ “No.”

“Then I'm going, see you around… Maybe.” Before Ren knew it, Goro was gone. Again. 

What was up with him? Did he have amnesia or was he faking not knowing him…? No, he knew who he was with certainty so it wasn't amnesia. He was also super calm, didn't seem to be phased by Ren so there was no way he was faking it, either… So, what made him not remember Ren? Whatever Kuzunoha was, maybe…?

“Hey, Ren, did you…” Morgana’s voice pulled Ren out of his thoughts. “Did you get the sense that wasn't really Akechi…? Or is it just me?”

Ren nodded slowly. “Yeah, I did…” That guy looked like Goro and sounded like him, sure. But…

The Goro Ren knew? For better or for worse, that Goro was long gone. Replaced with some fake, pretending to be him, ignoring everything about him…

And Ren didn't like it one bit.


End file.
